Lord Anduin Torrens and Staff of Asclepius
by Lord Anduin Torrens
Summary: What if, in addition to Voldemort, Harry had to deal with another Dark Lord, this one his own age. What if this Dark Lord had his own plans, radically different from anything attempted ever before. What if he had the Sight?


[Type text] Disclaimer: None of the story elements created by J.K Rowling belong to me, nor I intend to make any money of this work of fiction. [Type text]

**Lord Anduin Torrens and The Staff of Asclepius**

**Prologue: Nothing Escapes Our Sight**

Contrary to what many people believed, Peter Pettigrew was not a traitor. For months he ignored the Dark Lord's demands to learn where the Potters were hiding, playing both sides to save not only his, but also the lives of his dearest friends. But then, one night, he passed by an old wizard, blind and drunk, thrown onto the street in front of a pub in Knockturn alley, and too dizzy to apparate home. And then, the wizard's eyeballs turned golden, and he uttered something that changed Wormtail's plans. He apparated to his Lord's manor, immediately telling him everything, witholding only the date when he became the Potters' secret keeper. No need to get myself tortured, he thought. And so one Tom Marvolo Riddle, better known as the Dark Lord Voldemort, came to the front door of a humble cottage in the willage of Godric's Hollow, intent on killing the boy inside. The parents were of no consequnce, if they interfered he would kill them too, but otherwise he held them no excessive ill will. Wormtail, his not so loyal servant, followed him in his rat form, hoping that he did not make a terrible mistake. And then, half an hour later, James and Lily Potter were dead, little Harry scarred and crying in his nursery, and Lord Voldemort reduced to a shadow. And in the distance, deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean, an old vault opened...and the ancient force inside was released.

Over the next few days Harry got shipped to his future tormentors as his godfather and would-be guardian failed to listen to the man he believed to be a traitor and got himself shipped to Azkaban. He did not stop to listen to Peter's reasons. But, knowing that he was right, Peter hadn't cut off his finger and transformed. Instead, he confunded the other man into thinking he was also killed by Voldemort and then apparated away, saddened by the fact that his plan, in the end, only partially worked. Only years later, settled in a small cottage in Australia would he learn, that it was for the best.

Ten years later.. Essex, England

One Minerva McGonagall, Transfiguration professor and Deputy Headmistress at the Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was about to visit the Knigthly house of Esaron, minor muggle noble house, whose heir, Anduin, was registered at Hogwarts as being magical. She approached the ornately carved marble gate, sounding the great gargoyle that served as a doorbell. Then, she was greeted by an odd sight. Two guards, in robes similar to those that were worn by the Aurors, except that they were silver instead of red, greeted her. „We were expecting you, madam McGonagall, the guard on the left said." She was confused. How could a muggle, even if he was dressed in a way similar to what wizards usually wore, could know she was coming? She immediately felt at unease, and yet, she wasn't the head of Gryffindor for nothing. „Lead on,"she replied, sounding a lot more confident than she truly felt. Then,she added. „I guess you also know why I came, then? I would like to meat the head of this House, I bring important news regarding its heir." The guards both , the right one said. „Come with us. Lord Anduin is waiting inside." She was led through a garden and to an archway, one similar to the Veil of Death she saw once in her youth, before she decided to work at Hogwarts, except that this one had been a deep shade of violet instead of black, and it whispered in birdsong, instead of tortured, broken voices. „Our Lord is on the other side of this archway, the guards said." Confused, but also curious, she stepped through.

She immediately found herself in an enourmous hall, at least seven times larger than the Great Hall of Hogwarts, adorned with the crest of an impossibly tall tower inside a cave. In the center of the hall, was a boy, levitating in meditation, surrounded by a dozen crystal orbs that orbited around him with such precision that it put the Ministry Planetarium to shame. As she approached the strange boy, who could be nobody else than Anduin, the child she came to meet, she wondered where his parents were. As it stood, he was all alone in the hall, except for her and the two guards that met her. Then, he opened his eyes, and told her, in quiet, kind voice that reminded her of her mentor's. „You are here to invite me to Hogwarts, are you not? Say that I accept your invitation, what could you teach me? As you can see, I can levitate under my own power, and also fly, something you think of as impossible. I have many other skills, as well, none of which I gained from your school." She gasped, no child could possibly be this arrogant. „Young man..", she began, only for him to raise his hand, silencing her. „Look into the orbs, professor, and tell me what you see." Unable to draw her eyes away from the crystals as they passed in front of her one by one, she gasped once more. There was a wolf, howling at the moon, as a stag and a doe lied at his feet, dead. A dog in a cage, emaciated and almost dead. A rat with tears in his eyes. A snake, mighty basilisk, cut in half yet still alive, mauled by a griffin that laid beside it, brought to its knees by the viper's fangs. A bat, flying under the moon, trying to find something that wasn't there. A deck of cards, shuffled by a shadowy figure. A slice of fudge on a golden plate. And then, she saw herself in her animagus form, looking at the clouds as they dispersed. And suddenly, she understood all that which was shown to her. „You are a seer, she stammered. All these people..they are animagi. And that shadowy figure, it's You-know-who, isn't it? Albus always said he would return.." Instead of being fazed by her words, the boy just laughed. „I show you so much, and yet, you see so little. I am not a Seer, i am a Watcher. The first of my kind, and now the last, though more will come soon. The figure is a Dark Lord, in a way, though not the one you refer to. Nor is he dark. The darkness you see are his secrets, not his evil, for he has none. And yet, he certainly is capable of it. As for the animagi, that is not my secret to tell." He smiled, extending his hand to her as he landed. „I will come to Hogwarts. It gets boring to only observe everything and never interact with it. Besides, there are some things I intend to prevent, and some, that I shall cause myself. You will not need accompany me, as you do with other students, though you are welcome if you can make the time to do so. After all, there are some things, you would never believe unless you see them." As Minerva tried to process everything she had just heard, her future student waved his hand, revealing a number of robed figures along the walls, all of them young and beautiful, as if made in the image of a divine being „These, are the warriors of the Legion. The officers, I shall meet at Hogwarts."

Merlin, Minerva thought. Just what am I going to tell Albus? The impossible, impossible boy in front of her smirked as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. „Tell him what you will, but also tell him this: Nothing Escapes Our Sight.


End file.
